Latest news with #environmentalapproval
Globe and Mail
13-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
New rules for mining projects will speed up approvals, says N.S. government
Nova Scotia is streamlining the approval process for potential metal mining projects after they passed have through an environmental assessment. Environment Minister Timothy Halman announced changes Friday to the 'industrial approval' process, which sets rules for the daily operations of a mine and the monitoring of environmental requirements. Mr. Halman told a news conference in Halifax that his government's new 'phased' approach allows applicants to submit some details about their plans after their projects have been approved. For example, a company will be able to submit erosion- and sedimentation-control plans after its project's approval, but before construction on the mine begins. Mr. Halman also said his department will create a specialized team to handle all mining files to ensure timely processing of requests. The minister said the changes will help projects begin more quickly and maintain environmental standards. 'What's being presented to you today is years and years of listening to companies asking for greater clarity and greater predictability and we've delivered that today,' he said. Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw chiefs oppose new fracking law, considering legal action The Mining Society of Nova Scotia said in a release the industry welcomes the changes and hopes they will 'improve the efficiency of the permitting process.' However, Karen McKendry, senior wilderness outreach coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, said in an interview Friday that the provincial government hasn't made needed improvements to transparency in the industrial approval process. The public can't view documents related to industrial approval applications until after they've been approved, she said. 'All of the details about water monitoring and air monitoring and protecting wildlife are very opaque … There's no public input.' In addition, she said, 'under the industrial approval process, the details of how a project operates can be changed over and over again without anybody finding out about it.' She said that while the government is committing to shortening timelines for industry, it has ignored appeals for changes that 'serve the environment or the public' by giving citizens more opportunity to comment on potential projects.
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Minister approves Woodside gas extension in WA
The North West Shelf gas project in northern Western Australia has been given environmental approval to operate to 2070. ( ABC News: Charlie Mclean )
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Woodside's North West Shelf, Australia's largest gas project, approved for life extension to 2070
The life of Australia's largest oil and gas project will be extended to 2070, with Environment Minister Murray Watt giving the long-awaited environmental approval for the North West Shelf project to be extended beyond 2030. Woodside proposed the life extension to its West Australian gas facility six years ago, and it has sat under assessment since then. "Following the consideration of rigorous scientific and other advice including submissions from a wide cross-section of the community, I have today made a proposed decision to approve this development, subject to strict conditions, particularly relating to the impact of air emissions levels from the operation of an expanded on-shore Karratha gas plant," Senator Watt said in a statement. The approval is Senator Watt's first major act as environment minister, which will be welcomed by the Coalition and furiously opposed by the Greens. WA draws 14 per cent of its domestic power supply from the Woodside network of offshore oil and gas facilities and Karratha processing plants, but climate groups have warned the extension would add an additional decade's worth of emissions if fully utilised. However the act which governs environmental approvals does not include provisions to consider the climate change impact of a project, and so projects cannot be approved or rejected on that basis. The government drafted legislation that would have introduced climate considerations into the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, but it was pulled by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the face of heavy protest from WA Premier Roger Cook. Senator Watt has confirmed that bill will be rewritten and reintroduced to parliament as a priority. The laws would not have applied retrospectively to projects already in the approvals pipeline and so would not have impacted the North West Shelf decision. However, former environment minister Tanya Plibersek's decision to twice delay the project before the election, though it had already won state-level environmental approvals, caused frustration within industry and prompted the Coalition to promise it would approve the project within 30 days of winning government. Days after being sworn in as environment minister, Senator Watt acknowledged that the sector had waited long enough for a decision on North West Shelf. On Tuesday, Tuvalu's Climate Minister Maina Talia said the North West Shelf extension "would lock in emissions until 2070, threatening our survival" and undermine Australia's chances at hosting the next global climate conference in 2026 in partnership with Pacific nations.
